Vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines (e.g., diesel engines) typically include exhaust systems that have aftertreatment components, such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst devices, lean NOx catalyst devices, or lean NOx trap devices, to reduce the amount of undesirable gases, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), in the exhaust. In order for these types of aftertreatment devices to work properly, an injector injects reactants (e.g., a reductant such as urea, ammonia, or hydrocarbons), into the exhaust gas. As the exhaust gas and reactants flow through the aftertreatment device, the exhaust gas and reactants convert the undesirable gases, such as NOx, into more acceptable gases, such as nitrogen and oxygen. However, the efficiency of the aftertreatment system depends upon how well the reactants are evaporated and how evenly the reactants are mixed with the exhaust gases. Therefore, a flow device that provides evaporation and mixing of exhaust gases and reactants is desirable.
SCR exhaust treatment devices focus on the reduction of nitrogen oxides. In SCR systems, a reductant (e.g., aqueous urea solution) is dosed into the exhaust stream. The reductant reacts with nitrogen oxides while passing through an SCR catalyst to reduce the nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water. When aqueous urea is used as a reductant, the aqueous urea is converted to ammonia which in turn reacts with the nitrogen oxides to covert the nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water. Dosing, mixing and evaporation of aqueous urea solution can be challenging because the urea and by-products from the reaction of urea to ammonia can form deposits on the surfaces of the aftertreatment devices. Such deposits can accumulate over time and partially block or otherwise disturb effective exhaust flow through the aftertreatment device.